Welcome to Town
by fangirling19967
Summary: Sam and Dean get a call from Bobby to look at a stretch of highway in Maine for a possible haunting. They get a surprise when they find a town in the middle of the "red zone". Will they find out Storybrooke's secret? Dean/Emma & Sam/Ruby
1. A Strange Case

Chapter One - A Strange Case

Sam looked out the window of the 24 hour diner that Dean and him had stopped for lunch. He turned back to the computer screen with a sigh; he rubbed his eyes and went back to scanning the article that he was currently on. He looked across the booth table at his brother Dean, and smirked when he saw that Dean was entirely too engrossed in his burger while the paper sat in front of him on the same page that it had been on for the last 30 min. Sam turned his head, determined to find a case.

About 30 minutes later Sam startled back to reality and away from the police reports that he had been studying when he heard Dean's ringtone of the opening of "Smoke on the Water". He glared at Dean as he realized that Dean had been sleeping on the back headrest of the booth. Dean looked at the caller ID and then raised the phone to his ear with the last of the sleep leaving his eyes, "Ya?" Dean asked and Sam saw confusion flicker and then turn to interest in his eyes. "Sammy and I will check it out" He promised and then before Sam could catch his attention he turned to watch the retreating form of the waitress with an appraising look on his face.

"Dean! Focus!" Sam snapped as he lost patience with his brother and his antics. "Who was that on the phone?" Dean looked back with a faint look of annoyance on his face.

"Calm down Sammy. It was Bobby. He called to have us check out a small town in Maine that might be cursed" he announce slightly annoyed. He proceeded to open a map on the table and his eyes scanned the state of Maine.

Sam looked expectantly at Dean and then shook his head at his brother's obscurity. "And... what did he say about it? Why did he think that we needed to check it out?"

"Huh?" Dean replied in confusion and looked up at Sam after he had found what he was looking for on the map.

"Dean, why does he want us to check out... a stretch of highway in Maine?" Sam inquired after leaning over the table to see what Dean was pointing at. "What does he want us to look for? There's nothing there" Sam said as he began to pack up his laptop.

"Well he said that there have been accidents all along that stretch of highway for the past 28 years. All of the victims were sober and all report seeing a wolf right before they crashed. Although why seeing a wolf in Maine is significant at all. But when the scene is examined afterward there were no signs of a wolf anywhere." Dean said.

"Well wolves are largely solitary creatures. They will not interfere with or attack a human unless provoked or sick. I've never heard of anything like this before. Give me a sec and then we will get back on the road."

"Whatever," Dean mumbled and resumed his nap on the back of the booth. Sam shot a glare at his brother before he returned his laptop to the table. He opened a google search and began looking up phantom wolves. Sam sorted through article after article and what appeared to be a school mascot called the phantom wolves, only to collect a few that might have been plausible. He leaned across the table and shook Dean awake. Dean awoke with a start and looked around in confusion before comprehension dawned in his eyes. He turned to Sam and asked, "Do you have something Sammy?"

"I don't know," Sam said staring at his computer screen with confusion and slight frustration, "I'm going to need some more info. from Bobby, but I found some legends that might fit," Sam rolled up his sleeves and leaned on the table. He hunched over and peered at the computer screen. "There is a legend of a wolf that died in an attempt to protect a Japanese princess whom she had befriended, but when the wolf failed and died herself, the legend leads us to believe that the wolf's spirit now wanders around keeping other young girls safe from the same fate," Sam continued with his finger trailing on the screen. "Um... there are multiple records of ghost dogs hanging around cemeteries and old Indian burial grounds as a dead person's spirit. Several apparitions of dog-like creatures with things such as a lion's head. But it is almost always near a cemetery or an Indian burial ground. Nothing fits!" Sam exclaimed in frustration and then shut his laptop with more force than strictly necessary. "Not like it should anyway. These legends are all about cemeteries and ancient Indian burial grounds. We don't have enough information on this random stretch of highway in Maine"

Dean looked thoughtful and leaned forward toward Sam in interest, "Cemeteries? Indian burial grounds? It might be that there is someone buried there," Sam's eyes widened as he considered the possibility, all of his earlier annoyance toward his brother vanishing. "I'll call Bobby and see if there were any deaths in the area 28 years ago that could have resulted in a phantom wolf," he said as he sat back in the booth and flipped open his cell phone to call for information. Sam packed up his laptop for the second time in 30 minutes and was taking care of the bill when he heard Dean say hello to Bobby. They exchanged information with a small pause which Sam assumed for Bobby to look up some information. It was over in about 5 minutes and Dean followed Sam to the Impala. As soon as they were seated in the car, Sam turned to Dean as his brother recounted the conversation between him and Bobby. "He said that there was one disappearance a couple of days before the wolf sightings started. The vic's name was John Pyper-Ferguson and it was his son that filed the disappearance. The son claimed that there was a town called Storybrooke, and that the mayor had taken his father hostage. But since there was no town called Storybrooke or even a town there, the police wrote it off as a delusion. The man's body was never found but he was presumed dead." Dean pulled out of the diner's parking lot and followed the small road toward the highway.

Sam was deep in thought _Maybe this man's death was traumatic and it caused a phantom wolf to appear? Or maybe this man's spirit is now haunting the sight of his death and/or burial in the form of a wolf? _Nothing added up. He had never heard of anything like this before. He turned to Dean and mused out loud, "I guess we'll just have to see when we get there.

"I guess so," Dean agreed as he turned up the volume on the tape he was listening to and stuck out his middle finger to Sam when he saw him rolling his eyes. Sam turned to look out the window and wondered about what might await them on that distant stretch of highway in Maine.

Emma surveyed the disaster that was now her life. It had been scarcely a week since the curse had been broken and the town was still recovering. Loved ones were trying to find one another and general mayhem of all sorts was occurring. The main question was that why were they not transported back to the Enchanted Forest when the curse was broken? Emma, sitting back in her chair, put her hands over her eyes and inwardly sighed. What else could happen that would end up damaging her calm? On top of everything, why did Gold have to bring back magic? It only complicated her life more. Why had she ever thought that she could be shariff. It was in times such as these that she missed Graham. Suddenly sad as well as tired Emma bent over and rested her head on her hands on the cluttered desk. Emma's head lifted as she heard footsteps in the entryway. "What now?" she said before she fully saw that it was David standing in the doorway. Her mind temporarily froze, David but also her father. When was her life going to get less complicated? Ever since Henry showed up at her apartment... She calmed herself to take on a more civilised tone, "What happened?"

"Does something have to be wrong?" David asked as he walked into the room. Emma did not know how she had doubted that David was Prince Charming. He carried himself with a certain confidence that only one who knew some form of combat did. And the look in his eyes said that he was a natural born leader. She could not help but make some comparisons with herself when she saw either of her parents. Looking at David now, she saw some similarities: she had her father's blonde hair, and their eyes were not the same shade of blue, but almost. She shook her head and came back to reality to catch his next words, "I was just coming to see how you were doing." She sighed and then regretted it when she saw David's brows furrow and his eyes narrow in concern.

She hurried to soothe him by responding, "I'm fine David, just a little stressed thats all." She could see that it did not appease him as much as she was hoping for he still looked worried. "Really, we have more important things to worry about," she said and then turned her head back to the pile of paperwork that she needed to fill out and then the even larger stack of questions from the people of Storybrooke. She picked up her pen and pulled the first sheet off the stack of paperwork and figured that it was mind numbing work enough for her not to have to think hard upon.

"Let me help you with that," David announced and he took the top half or so of the stack. Emma was careful to not make eye contact. Things had not died down enough that her parents and her had had that awkward conversation, and Emma was going to avoid it for as long as humanly possible. Lucky for her that her father seemed to be of the same school of thought. They worked quietly for about two hours when finally Emma could not stand the elephant in the room any longer.

"I'm going to go get something to eat," David looked like he was about to come to, but upon seeing the look in Emma's face he wisely thought better of it and settled back into his chair. Emma swiped her red leather jacket off of the coat rack next to the doorway on the way out. She opted to walk to Granny's instead of driving. It was not that long of a distance and she was feeling up for some extra alone time anyway. Her mind wandered as she walked and she almost did not hear or see Henry until he was right next to her.

"Are you okay?" He asked her, and she let the smile that she was feeling in response to seeing him show on her face. He looked into her face for a moment as if gauging if she was telling the truth or not. After a couple of seconds where Emma tried to look as fine as possible, Henry nodded to himself and let his eyes wander the street. Occasionally someone would pass by and give a small nod or wave and then they would continue on. Each time that that happened Henry looked slightly pleased with himself and Emma had to stop herself from laughing. He was just so pleased with himself for knowing the truth the entire time and the rest of the town being clueless. He could not help but let it go to his head every now and then. Emma put her arm around her biological son and steered him into Granny's. They chose a booth near the door and then settled in when they saw Ruby hold up her index finger in a sign of "just one moment". Emma nodded her understanding and then turned to look at Henry. They engaged in meaningless conversation until Ruby had the time to swing by their table. The rest of the day seemed to pass without another disaster and for that Emma was grateful. She had a small sense of foreboding as she was brushing her teeth that night. She wondered what it could possibly mean. She leaned closer to the mirror to try to attempt to glean some information from her wary eyes, but as one would think she found nothing. She sighed and leaned back, running a hand through her hair. _Whatever will happen will happen; there is no use worrying about it now _she thought to herself as she was pulling the covers back. Her vision was already fading to black as she lay her head on the pillow.


	2. On the Road Again

SourceURL:file:/localhost/Volumes/JESS_FLASH/Writi ngFlash/OUATxSN(WelcomeToTown)

Chapter 2 - On the Road Again

DPOV

Dean's eyes shot open and his hand grasped the handle of the blade underneath his pillow and without moving his eyes shot around the room looking for what had woken him up. He forced himself to relax and keep his breathing at a normal rate. He heard the water in the hotel bathroom turn on and he rolled his eyes at himself. He was way too tense sometimes. What he thought was an intruder turned out to be his brother getting in the shower. He slid out a breath between his teen and relaxed back into the bed. He slid the knife out from under the pillow and into his bag before Sam could make fun of Dean being "scared" again. Why his brother could not understand that Dean was just being prepared was beyond him. He rolled out of bed with a groan and started getting ready for the day.

When Dean came back from his coffee run he found Sammy dressed but with wet hair. His brother turned to him and immediately saw the coffee in Dean's hands and crossed the room, "Thank God you brought coffee; I'm going to need it," he drank half of the cup before he pulled it away from his mouth spluttering, "Hot! Hot!"

Dean smirked at his brother and replied, "Yeah it's fresh. See I care about my little brother." He walked over to the laptop that his brother had left open on the desk. "Found anything new about the case?"

Sam was wiping his tongue on his palm. It was several moments before he answered with a grimace on his face, "No, I've got nothing, still the same legends." Sam came over and looked over Dean's shoulder as Dean sat down to scan the web page that Sam was on. It was just as Sam had said; nothing new or even remotely fitting their description of the case.

Dean looked over his shoulder and at his brother. "Guess we'll just have to see what is going on when we get there." Dean stood up and dragged the duffle full of weapons out from under his bed. "You alright to go?" Waiting for Sam's nod he then fished the keys out of his pocket and nudged the door open with his shoulder. He tossed the duffle in the trunk and was opening the driver's side door when Sam's phone rang.

Dean turned around to watch Sam walk out of the hotel room and answer his phone. Sam glanced at the caller ID before putting the phone to his ear. "Yeah Bobby? What do you need?" Sam listened, nodded, and then muttered assurances that he and Dean would be careful. "So that was Bobby," Sam said to Dean as he slid into the passenger seat. Dean shot a _No Duh _look at Sam before he went back to concentrating on the road. "He said that two more people were hospitalized after they crashed into a tree on the same stretch of highway. They have not talked to the police yet but Bobby thinks that it's because of the wolf," Sam said looking concerned. He suddenly turned to Dean and burst out, "Dean we don't know anything about what we are dealing with here," Dean's eyes slid over to Sam's face and saw true worry written in his eyes.

He attempted to placate his brother. "Sammy, we've dealt with the unknown before," Dean turned his attention back to the road, "We always come out on top. Besides, no one has died because of this yet."

Sam still did not look convinced but he turned to the road map. "How long do we have?" Dean asked trying to think ahead.

"Um... I think that we have about 14 hours left, but it might be best to face this thing in the light."

Dean mulled this over and had to agree. Better squeeze in an extra night's worth of sleep before they faced... whatever it was that they were facing. He tried to keep it from Sam, but this case was worrying him more than he wanted to let on. Every time that they found out about something new it was rarely pleasant. He hoped that they would be pleasantly surprised this time.

EPOV

Emma woke with a start to her alarm. She looked around her surroundings before she relaxed. It still surprised her when she woke up not knowing where she was. It's not like she had not slept here for about a year, although after she knew all that she knew she would not be surprised if she woke up in her old apartment with her old life. It would not surprise her if magic and everything here was just some elaborate dream. She groaned at the stress that had caused her neck to tense up in the middle of the night and had left a kink. She rolled her neck back and forth as she slid out of bed and padded lightly to the bathroom. She groaned as she remembered that she had slipped into bed before washing the little amount of makeup that she did wear off of her face.

She quickly slipped off her sweats and tank top stifling yet another groan when she realized that the ache in her neck spread halfway down her back. _It is just not my week _she thought to herself as she stepped into the spray of the shower.

After she had dried her hair and applied the minimum makeup to look presentable, Emma wound her way through the apartment that was fast growing too small for the humans that now lived there. Her father had moved in with her mother once the curse had been broken and Henry was also staying here until the situation with Regina could be sorted out. She stopped short and groaned but not at her sore muscles this time. She and Regina had gone head to head over Henry before and it had never been pretty. She could not imagine what would happen with magic now prevalent in this world. She ran her hand over her face and took a deep breath before walking out the door and toward Granny's. She got there around 7 and took an empty booth. Thank goodness that the entire town had not stopped functioning with the end of the curse. She shot a smile at Ruby when she came and took her order. As she saw Ruby leaving to place Emma's order, Emma tried to compare Ruby to Little Red Riding Hood. She could see the similarities from Henry's storybook. She shook her head at herself for taking so long to believe him, and only when he was under a sleeping curse that had been meant for her that her memory of the enchanted forest came back and she freed the town from the curse.

She looked around the diner and listed off names to herself and making small comparisons in her head. Ruby brought her food and she resigned herself to another slow day at the office.

SPOV

Sam took his eyes off the scenery that was flying by to look across the car at his brother. Dean thought that he was putting up a brave front but Sam knew his brother better than that. He could tell by the way that Dean's knuckles were holding the steering wheel just a little bit tighter than was strictly necessary. He saw it in the way that Deans eyes were squinting at the road as if trying to solve a complex equation, and the way that his mouth turned down slightly at the right corner as if he were trying to fit all the pieces of a puzzle together without knowing the shape or image yet. It only made Sam more nervous to see Dean so riled up. Dean pulled up to yet another run down motel. This was one thing that Sam did not appreciate about the Hunter life. If he could sleep in one place and in one bed then that would be just fine for him. Dean went ahead and got them a room and then Sam carried their bags into the room. Sam did not realize how tired he was until his head hit the pillow and he was asleep before Dean and him could talk about what they were going to do tomorrow.

DPOV

Dean came out of the bathroom to find that Sammy had completely passed out on his bed. He scoffed quietly to himself as he sat down on his bed and picked up the remote. He flipped through random channels but he could not focus on anything. This case was bugging him and the sooner it was all done and finished that would be the end of that. His eyes wandered around the room and then landed on his brother. Confusion and fear swept across Sam's features. _Poor kid must be having a nightmare _Dean thought to himself. He turned back to the TV and forced himself to watch for a little while longer before falling asleep.

Dean awoke a while later and rolled over to look at the clock on the nightstand. It was only then that he identified what had woken him up: Sam had fallen off his bed and was convulsing on the ground. Dean's mind went blank and then kicked into over gear. He vaulted to Sam's side and took him by the shoulders. "Sam! Sam!" Dean yelled into Sam's ear while trying to restrain him. Sam's eyes shot open and it was only then that Dean noticed that this was no random seizure. Sam looked scared. "What happened to you man? What the hell was that?" Dean did not bother trying to hide the strain in his voice.

It took Sam a little while to answer; he was too busy trying to catch his breath. "I think I just had a dream," Sam said overly calm, but when Sam turned and faced Dean he could see the confusion and even fear.

"You think that that was a dream?" Dean asked incredulous and then he put the pieces together. "Wait… do you think that it was one of _those _dreams?" Dean could not hide the confusion in his voice. "Sammy, those dreams stopped when we got rid of Azazel. What makes you think that they've started up again?"

"Because it was just like last time Dean. It was too vivid to be just any dream. Do you know how dreams seem real when you are in them, but as soon as you wake up they seem fictitious? Well this one seems real even now… real and dangerous," Sam said looking shaken up.

"Well it sure seemed real to me as well. You were seizing up on the ground," Dean said as he remembered just seconds ago when he had watched his brother thrashing around on the ground.

"I was?" Sam asked perplexed. He sat up the rest of the way and took in his surroundings for the first time since he had woken up. "That's weird."

Dean studied Sam looking for any signs that his brother was about to seize up again. "What was it about? I mean what did you dream about?" Dean sat on the edge of his bed and leaned forward until his forearms rested on his knees.

"Well it was us in a town. There were people there and something was definitely off," Sam looked up from studying his hands and into Dean's confused eyes. "I mean like _our_ brand of weird," Sam said and Dean nods understanding.

"Well considering we are going to be going to a haunted stretch of highway tomorrow I think that we will be safe for a while. No towns in our near future," Dean said in an attempt to comfort his brother. Dean watched his brother nod in confirmation and then slide under the covers of his bed. Dean nodded to himself and then lay down himself. He was almost positive that the case tomorrow would be easy, and then they could concentrate on why Sammy's dreams had come back, and what they were trying to tell them this time.

EPOV

Emma caught herself staring at the wall facing her desk yet again. She shook herself out of it and leaned over her stack of paper work and attempted, yet again, to concentrate. She lasted for about five minutes before the words started to blur in front of her eyes. She groaned and leaned her head on her desk in defeat. It would seem that she would not be very productive today.

She gave a little jump when David lightly knocked on the door and stuck his head in halfway. "Coffee?" he asked; the rest of his body following his head through the door. He forced a smile as he slid a chair across the floor and sat across the desk from her. _He is trying too hard_, although she could not find it in herself to blame him. He felt so guilty about abandoning her when she was a baby. And while Emma tried to keep the anger brewing just beneath the surface of her skin, she could also understand his motives. He was doing what any father would have done.

"Thanks" Emma said as she took up the coffee and tried not to wince and she tasted the cheapness of it. "Are you going to come with us to Granny's for diner?" She asked. "It is a family gathering."

"I'll do my best" he said with a smile and Emma mentally slapped herself for not believing Henry sooner. If anyone would be Prince Charming, it had to be David. As conversation trailed off to an awkward silence she pretended to do her paperwork and did her best to ignore her father.


End file.
